Large, heavy winches are used in the underground mining industry. These heavy winches are used to keep tension on the conveyors (e.g., belts), which carry material out of the underground mine. The winches include a winch drum (i.e., a rotating piece upon which a winch rope is wound), an electric motor and gearbox for turning the winch drum, and a park brake. Occasionally a conveyor experiences an emergency stop and the park brake sees dynamic braking loads causing it to overheat and seize. The seized park brake ends up trapping stored energy in the conveyor, and the load cannot be released from the seized brake. This situation places operators at risk when attempting to repair or replace the motor and gearbox or park brake.